We are pleased to announce the following talks selected for PG Day Austin 2012

Super Jumbo Deluxe by Josh Berkus

PostgresSQL Backup Strategies by Magnus Hagander

Schema-less Postgresql by Will Leinweber

DRY Out Your Database by Jim Nasby

The Magic of Hot Streaming Replication by Bruce Momjian

Seeking Postgresql by Greg Smith

Super Jumbo Deluxe by Josh Berkus

Before you resort to expensive proprietary database systems or time-consuming map-reduce frameworks, PostgreSQL should be your first tool for handling Big Data. In fact, PostgreSQL is the most popular open source database for data warehousing, and Josh Berkus will show you why. This talk will cover what data warehousing is, some basic principles and techniques, PostgreSQL tools which help with data warehousing, and finally PostgreSQL forks for when you need just a little bit more.

PostgresSQL Backup Strategies by Magnus Hagander

Rumor has it all these other users and companies do this thing called “”backup”" on their database. And people keep saying it’s a good idea. But what does it actually mean? In this talk we’ll go through the different options we have for PostgreSQL backups, how to use them and some good tips and best practices for setting up a backup strategy that actually works when disaster strikes.

Schema-less PostgreSQL by Will Leinweber

Schemaless database are a joy to use because they make it easy to iterate on your app, especially early on. And to be honest, the relational model isn’t always the best fit for real-world evolving and messy data.

On the other hand, relational databases are proven, robust, and powerful. Also, over time as your data model stabilizes, the lack of well-defined schemas becomes painful.

How are we supposed to pick one or the other? Simple: pick both. Fortunately recent advances in Postgres allow for a hybrid approach that we’ve been using at Heroku. The hstore datatype gives you key/value in a single column, and PLV8 enables JavaScript and JSON in Postgres. These and others in turn make Postgres the best document database in the world.

We will explore the power of hstore and PLV8, explain how to use them in your project today, and examine their role in the future of data.

DRY Out Your Database by Jim Nasby

The most commonly used tool in database development today is CUT and PASTE. That means you end up with duplicated code, leaving you all WET! But there IS a better alternative. Learn about Don’t Repeat Yourself as it applies to databases, and how you can speed your database development up by a factor of 10 or more!

The Magic of Hot Streaming Replication by Bruce Momjian

This talk explores the much-anticipated Postgres 9.0 features of hot standby and streaming replication. It explains how these features work, how to configure them, and their current limitations. It includes a hands-on demonstration that can be done either by the instructor or by students.

Seeking Postgresql by Greg Smith

How regular disks handle seek lookups, what’s different about SSD and other flash-based storage, and how that ends up impacting database performance. There is some original research to present on it.